What is the purpose of Protected Management Frames (PMF) in wireless communication?

Protected Management Frames (PMF) play a crucial role in enhancing the security of wireless communication. Specifically, PMF aims to reduce the risk of eavesdropping and session hijacking by providing integrity and authentication for management frames. These management frames are essential for the operation and maintenance of wireless networks, including critical tasks like authentication, association, and disassociation.

Without PMF, these management frames could be sent in an unprotected manner, allowing malicious actors to potentially intercept and manipulate them. By incorporating PMF, the integrity of these frames is guaranteed, ensuring that the frames have not been tampered with during transmission. This protection significantly mitigates risks associated with attacks targeting the management layers of wireless communications, thereby enhancing overall network security.

The other choices, while they represent different aspects of wireless communication, do not specifically address the primary focus of PMF. Enhancing encryption levels, allowing network access based on MAC addresses, or improving quality of service do not capture the essence of what PMF is designed to achieve—providing security against certain vulnerabilities in the management frames used in wireless networks.